


Externality, The Miscellaneous Archive

by jacksgreysays (jacksgreyson)



Series: The Six Paths of Tetsuki Kaiza [5]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 02:56:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 6,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11371137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacksgreyson/pseuds/jacksgreysays
Summary: (The collection of loosely related snippets and ficlets set in the Externality 'verse. Originally posted on tumblr.)





	1. (2015-03-02) ficlet

Except for the international Chuunin Exams, which is more of a pageant than a test, promotions are done differently in each village. In Konoha, it’s at the discretion of the certain key individuals–the Hokage, rank commanders and captains, and heads of departments. Of course, field promotions can be done by anyone of superior rank, but those always have to be justified later on to stick.

Konoha, in a position of power and a great many resources, has the luxury of adding a little… pageantry to their own promotions. Even the ANBU are not above their own little ceremonies, though theirs involve a little more cloak and dagger–literally. It’s not such a surprise that different departments have unique methods of internal promotions. The laziest–or they would argue, the most efficient–department is Torture & Interrogation.

To be fair, they’re already in charge of putting on the spectacle that is the international Chuunin Exam. That on top of their actual job of maintaining Konoha’s information network– via espionage, counter-espionage, and good old-fashion data collection–is a lot of work. They don’t have the time or resources to plan parties and initiations… but they are rather fond of mind games and it’s a good opportunity.

Just like how there’s an increase in skill between genin and chuunin, the difference between chuunin and tokubetsu jounin is distinct. It’s why the Chuunin Exams are unofficially and secretly considered to be the Tokubetsu Jounin Trial.

It’s how Morino Ibiki and Mitarashi Anko got their rank. It’s how she’ll be promoted, too. Well, it’s a littler more complicated than that.


	2. (2015-03-05) ficlet

_There are times when a operation develops into something larger and more complex than what you expected when you first began. The key is not to panic. Panicking will not only blow your cover, it’ll waste time and you may end up missing valuable opportunities. Such as strengthening your cover, or even turning a potential enemy into an ally._

-

She knows she literally did this to herself, but she’s glad that this hell of a week is almost over. At least, she’s glad until her emergency radio, which had been silent for the past four days, suddenly bursts into noise and activity. Considering the only person who is supposed to be on her frequency is Anko-senpai, the fact that it’s very distinctly not her voice is worrying. That it’s ANBU, who are taught covert sign language to minimize the need for talking, is even more worrying. And that’s not even including what’s being said.

Orochimaru is back in Konoha? Fucking shit.

She can’t contribute much, not with ANBU already on the case. And to be honest? She doesn’t really want to–she’s a chuunin, she doesn’t stand a chance against an S-class nin, much less that particular S-class nin. So it’s for the best that she’s told to continue with her current orders. Patrolling around the tower in Taining Ground 44 to bully teams of genin isn’t exactly at the top of her favorite activities, but in comparison to that clusterfuck? It’s practically a picnic.

So she contentedly, if not cheerily, proceeds to do the same thing she’s been doing for the past four days. She picks off a Kusa team and one of the weaker Konoha teams, trying hard not to be smug at how they’re older than she is, and takes their scrolls and most of their supplies. A Heaven from the Kusa team and an Earth from the Konoha team, giving her a total of three of the former and four of the latter. Considering she wasn’t actually given either kind of scroll, not being a true participant of the exams, she thinks she should be proud. Sure, they’re genin and she’s a chuunin. But if three chuunin-hopefuls can’t handle a single chuunin (and, okay, her two kage bunshin “teammates”) then do they really deserve to be chuunin? No.

After that, she sees an unconscious team of idiots who opened their scroll outside the tower, tags them for pick up, and again steals most of their supplies. It’s not like she needs it–Anko-senpai has occasionally bringing her meals and equipment, and she’s not sure what she’s going to do with 57 extra kunai, 34 extra shuriken, and 12 senbon (especially since one of her favorite moves from her repertoire is to electromagnetically fling all metal objects away from herself)–but it’s fun. And a passive aggressive way of taking out her frustration at her self-imposed situation on morons who can’t follow simple instructions.

It’s eighteen hours after the initial radio chatter on the Orochimaru situation, five of those which were spent sleeping (luckily her bunshin “teammates” don’t have to sleep), when Anko-senpai comes to see her in person. And it’s not good. Of course she knows that Anko-senpai has terrible history with Orochimaru, having been his apprentice and first guinea pig (or at least, first successful guinea pig), but she can hardly imagine what this must feel like for her. Beyond fucking terrible, that is. But what makes her wary is that Anko-senpai doesn’t look mad, she looks kind of apologetic.

And then, of course she gets told that her one week Kumo genin cover has to be extended for another month until the finals. It’s already the fifth day, which means, if she wants to pass like all the actual genin exam takers are doing, then she has to get into the tower today. She has more than enough scrolls, that isn’t the problem, but it’ll weird to explain to the genin she let through on why she decided to suffer for an additional four days outside the tower when she could’ve “passed” on the first day.

Luckily, Kumo has a reputation for being over the top and scorning the “bloated weakness of Leaf trash,” she says with a smirk as her bunshin teammates reveal all eight of her scrolls. One of her bunshin tacks on that herbivores deserve to be bitten to death, and the Inuzuka practically bristles at that. She’s secretly enjoying how the Konoha nin scowl at the words–Anko-senpai’s sadistic tendencies must be rubbing off on her.

But what’s most interesting is how the Suna kunoichi approaches her. Considering the Konoha-Suna alliance, and Konoha’s not-so-secret cold war with Kumo the Suna kunoichi–especially the Kazekage’s daughter–should know better than to make such a political misstep. It could just be an overture of friendship between the two kunoichi participants who don’t act like they’re on a team merely to fill a gender quota. Time will tell. She’s got another month to figure it out.


	3. (2015-03-06) ficlet

When it comes to cover identities, sometimes less information is more. While creating full-proof backstories might seem like a good idea, it’s usually leads to contradicting details which ultimately give you away. Instead, just don’t say anything. People will make assumptions, and it’s better to be vaguely incorrect than specifically. Also people acknowledge that it’s natural to have secrets, they may not like it but they’ll accept it.

-

It’s about thirty minutes before the official end of the survival part of the exam that she realizes she needs a jounin-sensei in order to keep her cover as a genin. And not just any jounin-sensei, a Kumo jounin.

It’s widely known that jounin, no matter the country, are the elite, practically deities in comparison to chuunin. But it’s also acknowledged that they are batshit insane. Even the most mild of jounin would be considered quirky; eccentricity seems to be part and parcel for strength.

But Kumo ninja are known for their… boldness. All Kumo ninja have a certain confidence and swagger, regardless of ability. But while usually it’s all hot air, their jounin actually have the skills to back up their ego. It’s a little frightening, but more frustrating, to be honest.

And suddenly, she knows exactly what to do.

She pops another soldier pill, replenishes her chakra supply, and gets to work making another kata kage bunshin. Luckily, her bunshin teammates are taijutsu specialists, so they still have enough chakra to keep themselves running, but the person she has in mind for her jounin sensei requires more. He has to give the feeling of a jounin level strength, even if she doesn’t have the skills to back it up–he’s got to be able to fake it or at least intimidate people enough not to risk checking.

The bunshin she makes is like obsidian, everything about him is dark and sharp, beautiful but dangerous. In comparison to Kakashi-sensei who looks like he just woke up from a nap, mussed hair and clothes; her bunshin sensei’s uniform sits neatly on his shoulders, the creases picture perfect, his hair  spikes angled to make his silhouette all the more intimidating.

He’s perfect. Annoyingly so, which means she can’t help but scowl when Anko-senpai’s reaction to his flirting is to blush outrageously.


	4. (2015-03-26) ficlet

When creating her cover identities, it’s easy to build from memories. Those half-remembered dreams of a place that doesn’t exist; of people she’s never met during a time that never happened.

(Don’t build from memory. It’s dangerous.

Does it matter if they’re not real memories?)

Appearances are easy. She (didn’t) spend over a decade looking at their faces, listening to them speak, watching them move. So are personalities. She (doesn’t) know their dispositions inside out, what they fight for and how they do so.

She gets some details muddled– How old were they when they got this scar? Did they always cartwheel into battle, or only during spars? And she is forced to improvise, in order to adapt them to her new world.  but her creations are unmistakably them. No one else but her know the originals, and so there is no one to point out any mistakes.

They all wear black, because it never made any sense to her for ninja not to wear black, but that doesn’t mean they wear all black. Fashion is different in this world, because fighting is different in this world, but she tries to stay true nonetheless. And each of them have pops of color, just a little reference to their heritage and the fires that once burned within.

When she makes them, it rings hollow in her chest. She misses them, but what she builds aren’t really them. Just empty reflections of a past life.


	5. Word Prompts (N16): Numbers

This exam is a farce. She knows it, Anko-senpai knows it, even the Hokage knows it. But she still has to participate anyway.

Standing amongst the other victors of the preliminaries is so strange. All of them lined up on the arena floor, as if they were all equals. As if she weren’t superior to them.

She’s proud of her chuunin rank, and it grates to be considered a talented genin instead. On the other hand, it’s ridiculously amusing that her two bunshin teammates are also standing in the line. As if they were as human as the rest.

Anko-senpai offers the box full of papers for the final tournament, a sly smile curling on her lips. Normally Tetsuki, the Tetsuki of Konoha, would make a silly face back perhaps stick out her tongue because she is a coworker and a junior and a friend; confident in her place. But here and now she is Tetsuki of Kumo, a genin from an enemy land, whose confidence would be nothing more than bravado when faced with a Konoha jounin.

So Tetsuki bares her teeth. Next to her, her bunshin teammates react accordingly. Hibari-senpai’s stoicism doesn’t waver, but Ryohei’s smile edges just that little bit towards manic.

The papers are altered tags which can change their content however it pleases the holder of the box. In this case, Anko-senpai.

Tetsuki of Konoha trusts her. Anko-senpai wouldn’t make her suffer through this cover for an additional month if it weren’t for a good reason.

But the Tetsuki of Kumo doesn’t know that. She looks at the numbers, at the match-ups, and sees how her two teammates are paired off against each other. All the better to reduce Kumo’s odds of promotion, no doubt. Tetsuki of Konoha knows that it’s really to keep her bunshin’s strength in reserve, but that is not her right now. And so she can only glare balefully at the Konoha jounin around her. Can only turn away from the Konoha genin, especially the one that looks too chillingly like the nightmare fodder of Yellow Flash, and walk away.


	6. (2015-06-06) ficlet

“It’s fine,” she says, eyes steadily looking everywhere but at him. “Whatever,” she adds, nails edging into the meat of her palm. “You can go now,” she concludes, mouth flattening into an irritated line.

She has always looked monochrome before, but in the hospital room it takes a turn towards sharp. Black, gray, white. No space for colors, no time for regrets.

He doesn’t know how to apologize. She doesn’t expect him to.

He leaves.

…

“I took the liberty of filling out the rest of her file while the rest of you flocked around her cousin like sheep,” Tsunade says snidely from her seat beside the bed. For some reason, after treating her patient, she refused to leave. Going so far as to send Shizune out to speak on her behalf with Jiraiya.

In comparison to Kakashi-sensei’s room, it really is rather empty, even with the potential future Godaime Hokage inside.

“What?” Komadori asks blankly.

“What kind of piss poor shinobi doesn’t know their teammate’s next of kin? Or even their last name, for god’s sake?” Tsunade adds scathingly. “I suppose I can understand not knowing that brat Kakashi is her next of kin–he’s got the Hatake look to him more than anything–but leaving her surname blank? That’s just appalling.”

“What?” Komadori repeats, before reminding himself that he’s making himself look like a total moron in front of the future Hokage, “I- I don’t know what you’re talking about. Tetsuki’s an orphan.” Nameless, therefore, clanless.

But from the hints the Sannin is throwing around, that may not be true. Tetsuki related to Kakashi-sensei?

“You didn’t know,” Tsunade concludes, less caustic more concerned, “She doesn’t know.”

Komadori shakes his head–in confusion, in agreement.

…

“… and I’ve definitely been training a lot, believe it! I just kind of miss you, you know? Kakashi-sensei pretty much woke up immediately and baa-chan said that she fixed you, so I don’t know why you’re still asleep, okay…” Naruto rambles, feet kicking lightly at the bed, a steady one two one two. He’s a little dusty, a little scratched up, but he didn’t think Tetsuki would mind a little dirt when he visited. Even if she were awake, she was never one to care about that stuff.

“… you missed baa-chan’s ceremony by the way. She’s a great Hokage. Not as great as I’m going to be, but she can have the hat for now until I get stronger…” And he does, need to get stronger, that is. Tetsuki was the first one to believe in him, in a way was his first teacher. Even when her skills led her to a promotion first, she never held that against him, had always tried to keep pushing him forward.

“… Sasuke-teme’s been acting weird–ever since that rotten brother of his showed up–which means Komadori’s been pretty annoyed. He keeps making that face, you know, the one like he made during that one mission with the fruit merchants…” Kakashi-sensei had been acting pretty weird, too, ever since baa-chan spoke to him. Something about inheritance and guardians.

“… that creepy scar guy and Kiba’s sensei and Ino’s dad have been by a few times. And your creepy senpai. They think you’re not waking up because it’s something like what you did during the Chuunin Exams. They said you might have hypnotized yourself, to protect your mind from teme’s brother’s jutsu…” They weren’t sure, though, because Tetsuki hadn’t conveniently left behind a clone who knew how to reverse it. Draining her of chakra might break her self-hypnosis… or it might kill her.

“… I just wish you’d wake up already…”

…

She wakes up.

She doesn’t know what to make of the new name. Doesn’t know what to make of the new Hokage who looks at her with nostalgic fondness. Of the suspicious and even fearful gazes from her superior officers.

At the very least, she’s comforted in the knowledge that her relationship with Kakashi-sensei has always been total and utter bullshit, regardless of if it’s teacher-student or only surviving blood relative.

She had always thought genin teams were supposed to be like family. It was one of those romanticized ideals whispered around the orphanage late at night. Like getting adopted.

She had been proven wrong, time and time again. She should have known better. She should know better.

So what if her jounin sensei was literally her only family. If it didn’t matter then–if she didn’t matter then; running after Kakashi-sensei’s heels, coming up with new techniques, always pushing herself to get his attention–it shouldn’t matter now.

His offer to teach her Chidori–now, after having already gift-wrapped it for his prized Uchiha student–tastes like ashes in her mouth.

As if she hasn’t already moved on from his table scraps.

“It’s fine,” she says, not looking at him in hopes to quell the surge of indignation.

“Whatever,” she adds, curling her hands into fists to ward off her rage.

“You can go now,” she concludes, pressing her lips together so she can’t spit out all the things she wants to scream at him.

Kakashi doesn’t hesitate to leave.


	7. (2015-07-27) ficlet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the second section is a reference to my other SI!OC Naruto fic [(In)Difference](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11365467)

Komadori looks at her and thinks she has gone mad. But madness can easily be disguised as eccentricity, and anyway, all of the most powerful shinobi are a little crazy. So she smiles. As do some of her small army of bunshin. But not all of them.

Because not all of them are her. Actually, none of them are her anymore. And that’s what scares him.

“Komadori, you’ve met Ryohei before. These are our other friends,” she says, gesturing at her most frequently used identity, then at the fifteen other nonexistent people behind her.

He tries not to flinch away when she grips his elbow and guides him further into the crowd of phantoms. By the brief squeeze, he knows he failed, but at least she doesn’t hold it against him.

—

Hypothesis: Jiraiya is related to Hatake Sakumo and, therefore, also Hatake Kakashi.

Corollary 1: Jiraiya would have known Kakashi’s mother.

Corollary 2: Jiraiya would have seen that Tetsuki resembles Kakashi’s mother.

Conclusion A: Either Jiraiya had never seen Tetsuki before Tsunade revealed her heritage,

Conclusion B: Or he saw and told no one.

If B, did he tell no one because:

i) he does not care

OR

ii) it is a secret to be kept

If ii, who is he protecting?  
AND, who/what is he protecting them from?


	8. (2015-08-04) ficlet

The world around them is still sharp and overexposed, red and black and white and fear, like a nerve just waiting to be stepped on.

“I want to go home!” She yells up at him, trying and failing to break out on her own.

Mukuro, the only thing not in monochrome, is a slender bruise colored tear in the scenery, “There is no going back, only forward,” he says inanely. As frustrating in her imagination as he had been in life.

“You should have just let me die!” She screams back, reduced to punching and kicking at the nonexistent buildings. They remain unaffected. “I would have rather died there than be stuck here knowing that–” she stops, breath thick and choking in her throat. She’s not going to cry about it. Certainly not in front of Mukuro, however fake he may be.

“What’s done is done,” he responds, dropping from his perch atop one of the fences to stand in front of her. “What will you do now?”

She turns away from him in a manner she would never do if it really had been Mukuro. She would never trust him with her back. The landscape is unchanged, an endless horizon of impossible things in colors of pain and anger and psychosis.

They stand in silence, a buzzing soundtrack of madness and despair scratching away.

“What happened here?” She finally asks, when straining her memory for clues yields nothing.

“The intruder called it Tsukuyomi, his eyes were like Hatake’s red one,” Mukuro answers, voice closer than she would like.

Uchiha Itachi, then. She’s in a genjutsu from the Mangekyou Sharingan. Which explains why she didn’t just break it, but doesn’t explain…

“There’s supposed to be more torturing going on than this,” she says, turning and gesturing around them.

“Are you complaining?” he mocks with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t be an ass,” she shoots back with a glare.

“It’s your mind,” he says with a shrug, “I just happen to be in it.”

“What did you do with the intruder?” she switches topics, back to something more productive. She’s always hated talking to Mukuro.

“He was just a figment of the real one.”

“So are you.”

“Yes, but this is your domain. And I’m much stronger. I disposed of him.”

“Then why is it still like this?” She waves at their surroundings.

He shrugs.

Just great.


	9. Cross Post: Unintended Consequences (Prologue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> originally posted on livejournal. posted on tumblr as a recording

_Unintended Consequences are outcomes that are not the ones intended by a purposeful action, there are three types:_

  1. _A positive, unexpected benefit (usually referred to as luck, serendipity or a windfall).  
_
  2. _A negative, unexpected detriment occurring in addition to the desired effect of the action.  
_
  3. _A perverse effect contrary to what was originally intended (when an intended solution makes a problem worse)  
_



_These are also called Externalities._

—

Her decision to join the academy is purely economical and entirely practical. She is six years old and an orphan. Having already completed the free two years of education provided to all citizens of Konoha, she has two options. Both of them have a high probability of her dying before she turns twenty.

The first is to join the ninja academy which is nominally free in exchange for a lifetime of military servitude. The second is to strike out on her own, probably be pulled into a life of crime or prostitution or, as the whispers around the orphanage go, be kidnapped and brainwashed into being a ninja anyway. For most other six year olds, their second choice is much nicer. For other six year olds with families and parents and incomes not provided by the government, their second choice is to continue at the civilian school for a set tuition and go on to a safe civilian lifestyle.

Though, that doesn’t mean six year olds who go to the ninja academy don’t end up as civilians. There have been cases where, despite personal desires and determination, a student simply isn’t cut out to be a shinobi. Even before they reach their final year, students with no potential are highly encouraged to withdraw or even straight out failed.

And sometimes, even academy students may go on to live a safe lifestyle as ninja. Students who have graduated from the academy, but fail to pass the jounin-led team tests, are shuffled into the Genin Corps who then go on to be administrative workers, outpost guards, teachers, long term infiltrators, nurses, and other low risk occupations. In peace time, of course. In war time, they’re called cannon fodder.

No one tells her any of this. Outrightly, at least. There are some benefits to being a lone child wandering around the village without supervision. Alternatively, the head of the orphanage has useful drunken ramblings and he keeps a not so secret stash in his office. The head of the orphanage is not a terrible person–overworked and cynical and borderline alcoholic, yes–but he knows where funding comes from.

Although there have been less orphans due to peacetime, the Kyuubi attack still left all of the orphanages over full. And for all that there is no war, missions still have their hazards–death doesn’t care if a shinobi has a family. In any case, it’s very easy to convince orphans to join the academy when so many of their games revolve around the sugarcoated glory and excitement of ninja. There is no “cops and robbers,” there is no “hide and seek,” there is no “catch”; there is “hunters and nukenin,” and “ambush,” and “target practice.” Of course, for her, there was none of that anyway.

The orphanage workers called her a wallflower, shy, didn’t like playing with the other children. Helpful, though, when she could be. Out of the way when she couldn’t. Curious but quiet. All in all, a somewhat well-mannered and intelligent but otherwise normal orphan girl. Which is obviously not the case. To be fair, not even a close observer–one not distracted by dozens of other orphans–would be able to say why.

The past six years of her life was similar to many other orphans: occasionally underfed, frequent nightmares, independent and mistrustful. Even her reasoning to enroll in the academy, well-thought out rather than the usual glory-seeking, was not too different from the other orphaned children forced to mature at a young age.

It wasn’t until after another indistinguishable six years of education, a risk taken, a friendship made, a graduation passed, and a team formed that even she realized she was very different from the other children. That her decision, purely economical and entirely practical much like most of her decisions, had the unexpected consequence of altering a universe.


	10. Cross Post: Unintended Consequences (Caltrops)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> originally posted on livejournal. posted on tumblr as a recording

She loves her hair. The color is a nice deep black, it’s straight and easy to manage. She loves how long it is, and while the texture isn’t as soft and luxurious as she sometimes wishes, she meticulously manages it, trimming the ends when it gets too crunchy and split.

It’s a liability. Especially since she doesn’t like to tie it up, as TenTen does. That is what she created Kaminari no Kami for, but it’s still… she’s not really skilled enough to pull off long hair like some of the more experienced ninja. She’s been considering other techniques to make it less of a liability and more of a tool, but it’s too specific a task to be high priority.

She considered, once, having tiny razor blades in her hair. But considering one of her best moves, Jibasousa, flings metal away from her body she’d probably end up ripping out chunks of her scalp.

She should probably just give in and, at the very least, tie it up in a pony tail if not cut it shorter. But it’s her one vanity–it’s a silly thing, but it’s something that reminds her that she isn’t always a child soldier. She can be a pretty girl and kick ass.

Then, Komadori hands her a box. It’s not terribly big, just barely the size of a set of three scrolls. She’s a little confused, because they haven’t shared paperwork since they both got promoted, and even the occasional collaborative brainstorming of new techniques wouldn’t require scrolls when usually they just plan a shared training day. And why would he still be standing there? Does he want her to read them in front of him?

“Just open the box, Tetsuki. Please.”

She does. Inside are caltrops. At least a dozen gleaming black spikes arranged in the box.

“Happy Birthday.”

Oh, well… it’s nice of him to have remembered but… caltrops aren’t really useful for ninja. Very rarely are enemies riding mounts, and even then ninja hardly keep their feet on the ground. If she throws them, she’d lose them very quickly. And these aren’t exactly buy-in-bulk kunai. She smiles at him anyway, though her doubt must peek through.

“They’re for your hair. I figured obsidian would be better than metal, since your lightning natured techniques tend to… you know. And they… uh. They match your hair better, too.”

They do. They’ll be easier to hide because they already match her hair color. And the star shape is better than a flat razor blade in deterring grabbing hands. They’ll be easier to fix in her hair too.

“Thanks”


	11. Cross Post: Unintended Consequences (Chapter One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> originally posted on livejournal. posted on tumblr as a recording

Her Academy career is nothing special. Due to her heritage, or lack thereof, there is no real pressure for her to succeed. Nor are there any real expectations.

For the most part, she does pretty decently. Like many other orphans who have decided to take the Academy track, she is better than the strictly civilian students. The ones who are, for lack of a better term, soft. They’re just playing, drawn in by the culture of Konoha and it’s almost patriotic glorification of ninja. They have parents to go back to, parents who are often just indulging their children and don’t really understand the horrible commitment until far too late.

But they do have one thing going for them, as she and many of her fellow orphans can feel all too keenly, they have a better support network. They tend to do better on the strictly academic tests–history and math in particular–because of superior literacy skills. Even if everyone in the Academy has technically gone through the same two years of free schooling, there’s a lot more reading and writing done outside of school for those with disposable income that can be spent on books.

And food.

It’s not that they starve, Konoha is too well-off for that, but there’s a difference between a two meals a day at specifically scheduled intervals and having access to food whenever one feels the slightest bit hungry. For some of the orphan students, it reflects in the physical classes–she knows of at least two fellow orphans in her class that simply can’t do all of the drills because of low blood sugar or malnutrition. One was flunked out in third year, the other most likely won’t be able to graduate. For the most part, it just makes civilian kids all the more coddled: during the annual “survival field trip,” which is basically camping in one of the safer, more forested training grounds, civilians tended to be the ones complaining and dragging the groups down.

But, if the orphan students just barely eke past the civilian kids, both are easily blown out of the water by Clan children.

Whatever support network civilian students may have, Clan students simply have larger and better ones. Even Branch Hyuuga, who are treated as servants by their Main counterparts, still have better books, equipment, and social groups than even the richest of civilians. Not to mention, Clan children don’t have any of the negative habits that civilian kids do. They aren’t spoiled like civilian kids by their support network, if anything they are groomed and trained and conditioned to be superior ninja.

If civilian kids are the raw meat left out in the open to rot, and orphans are the dry, tough, but still edible jerky, then Clan children are perfectly restaurant-prepared barbecue.

It’s hard not to feel jealous. Life isn’t fair, she knows that, but it’s not like she’s doing so badly. They get good results, sure, but hers are nothing to sniff at.

It would probably be an exaggeration to say she’s a genius. She still has trouble with academics–due entirely to her mediocre literacy skills–but during the few occasions where the questions and answers are verbal she does just fine. But that’s not really due to her intelligence as it is her ability to know what the teacher wants to here. It’s less “smart” and more “sharp.” Not all orphans have this skill, but a few do; there’s a shrewdness that comes with being overlooked and undervalued. What would be deemed precocious in other kids, is considered cynically canny in an orphan. It is both a blessing and a curse.

—

To her dismay, she enjoys genjutsu. She absolutely loves it. The logistics of layering genjutsu, the variations necessary to take hold of different senses, the open canvas to make imagination into reality. It’s like stepping into a dream, controlling every aspect of the surrounding world and the target in turn. It’s amazing.

Nonetheless, her skill and preference for genjutsu is problematic. It’s unfortunate because–combined with her adequate achievement in kunoichi classes, her unremarkable yet fair features, and her lack of social or political standing–her future will likely be filled with infiltration and seduction types of missions. While it’s not the worst that could happen, and her skill in genjutsu implies that she doesn’t necessarily have to have sex in order to seduce, if she continues along this path she’s going to end up a glorified prostitute before she turns fifteen.

It doesn’t help her case that she has a low ranking in taijutsu class. In her defense she does actually know the katas, but when it comes to the spars she dodges and hesitates when she really should attack.

Her saving grace is that she has larger than average chakra reserves: not just for kunoichi, but amongst academy students in general. She also has fairly good chakra control–not perfect like some of the other girls, not enough for the more delicate medical jutsu, but enough that she can understand and perform ninjutsu and chakra exercises within just a few tries.

She might be considered for light combat instead: guard duty and border patrol, which, though it isn’t the cushy administrative post or the relatively safe teaching position, is still preferable to infiltration, seduction or not. It’s one thing to build a temporary fake world with chakra, it’s another to actually live a lie all the time. She already feels like an outsider occasionally, she wouldn’t want to be one in a foreign country for the sake of a mission.

But that’s a matter for later, after the final exam. As it is, maybe she’s still looking too far ahead, because the semester just started and the final exam isn’t for another five and a half months. Then again, preparation certainly wouldn’t hurt her chances of passing, and it’s better to be eager and pass than under-prepared and failed. Speaking of, the new (older) additions to the class have already taken the final exam: they know what to expect, even if they obviously failed, but that knowledge should improve their chances of passing. And hers, if she can get one of them to tell her. Information is often more valuable than gold or steel for a ninja.

She doesn’t know what the returnee rate usually is, but there’s only four of them in her class and of that only one of them is a girl. She remembers her from kunoichi classes, which combine every two class years, and the girl was always complaining. Also, she wasn’t particularly good at any of the kunoichi skills–not that it’s so unusual. Another girl in their class, TenTen, usually only just barely passed those tests, but at least she had impressive shurikenjutsu skills to make up for it–the returning girl didn’t have any such specialties. Which explains why she failed. She never even seemed to want to be a ninja, really, but that’s not particularly relevant.

Nonetheless, maybe one of the others would be better. Knowing why they failed before approaching them would be helpful. She doesn’t want to waste her time on someone who can’t help her, but she has to give them incentive to cooperate. It would be best if they could help each other, though she certainly wouldn’t say no to free information.

Oh. One of them is Rock Lee. She’s heard of him, of course. The boy unable to mold chakra but wants to be a shinobi anyway. Why he failed is obvious, she can’t help him overcome that kind of handicap, though she admires him a little bit for his determination. But mostly scoffs at him for irrationality. What kind of ninja does he think he can become without even being able to do the Basic Three? And supposedly all he had going for him in the taijutsu classes was sheer stubbornness. No chakra, no academic intelligence, average at best taijutsu. How he even made it this far in the academy is a mystery to her.

She’ll pick from the remaining two, then. One of them looks sort of familiar, in a hazy sort of way. Perhaps he was at the same orphanage? But with his blonde hair and blue eyes, clashing horribly with his orange outfit, he’s probably a Yamanaka clan kid. He also looks kind of short, a definite reach disadvantage in taijutsu. She can’t really tell from this angle, and his clothes hardly help, but he looks like the kind of person who would fight with power more so than speed. Or at least, he will be when he gets a bit older. The other guy doesn’t seem familiar or outstanding at all. She’ll ask him first, then, after today’s classes.

—

It’s probably for the best that she decided to wait to ask about the final exam. The other guy was a total dick. Not to her personally, of course, because she hadn’t even approached him yet. But apparently he’s a long time tormentor of Rock Lee, which is just… dickish.

Ok, so sure Rock can’t use chakra and it’s probably stupid of him to keep trying to become a ninja. But there’s no reason to bully him for it. And what does that say about that beanie-wearing jerk that he didn’t pass either? At least Rock has the excuse of not being able to use chakra–from how the other guy kept lording himself, he should have been able to pass.

Well, the stuck up Hyuuga took him down a few pegs at least. Not for any nice reasons, though, because saying someone who has failed is destined for failure is also pretty messed up. But no one really wants to argue with the likely Top Rookie of the year, especially when he’s making an obnoxious jerk shut up… and when he sort of has a point.

If you didn’t pass the exam because of a low score, fine, maybe next time study harder or something–though if you didn’t bother to the first time you’re probably too lazy to the second. But if you didn’t pass the exam because you physically cannot and will not be able to do ninjutsu… they’re called ninja for a reason.

All of that just means she should probably reconsider the kunoichi senpai or ask Uzumaki. Because that’s who the blonde kid was: Uzumaki Naruto, not a Yamanaka clan kid. Although, that didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t half Yamanaka, he might be a bastard child. But even in that case, Mochida-sensei wouldn’t dare be even half so caustic if he were related to one of Konoha’s major clans, unofficial as it might be.

Something about his name sounded familiar, despite that. Uzumaki isn’t a clan name, she knows, but it still sounds like she’s heard it before. Maybe he’s related to someone from their textbooks. Or, from the way the teacher has been glaring at him when not outrightly ignoring him, maybe someone from the bingo books.

She has no idea why he still seems familiar, even though she knows she’s never seen him in her life–she’d remember such a bright orange suit. But what really bugs her is that she doesn’t understand how Uzumaki could have taken and failed the final exam already but still be a year younger than her.

If he were a genius, getting admitted early or skipping a few years, then he should have been able to pass. Unless, since he failed, he’s not good enough at a specific skill or he has a lot of potential, but hasn’t been been taught how to reach it. With the way Mochida-sensei has made his day difficult, she can believe it.

She doesn’t want that hostility to be turned to her, even though Uzumaki looks like her best choice for the deal. He doesn’t have any grating character flaws from what she can tell, and his reason for failing may be something she can help him with. And if he’s really aiming to be Hokage, as he yelled earlier in the day, even though it’s unrealistic that just means he’ll be more desperate to pass. She’ll have more leverage during negotiations. As long as it’s outside of class it’ll be fine, Mochida-sensei won’t know. It’s not like she wants to be friends: their association will be strictly business.


End file.
